Jangra savours his underdog moment

Among Victoria School's (VS) B Division hockey players, Jangra Aditya is considered a late starter, having taken up the sport only three years ago.

Yet the left-wing forward emerged as their hero yesterday by scoring a hat-trick to help his side beat Raffles Institution (RI) 3-0 in the National School Games final.

Playing without injured captain K. Ashvin, 2019 runners-up VS drew first blood after just three minutes when Jangra scored - to the delight of VS supporters, who were still streaming into the Sengkang Hockey Stadium.

The Secondary 4 student then gave them more reasons to cheer when he doubled the lead just seven minutes later and when he completed his hat-trick eight minutes into the third quarter.

Receiving a quick cutback from the right, the 15-year-old skipped past an RI defender with some neat stickwork and volleyed the ball past goalkeeper Mohamad Ezeckiel for his last goal.

An elated Jangra, who was quick to credit his teammates for his hat-trick, said: "It was quite an underdog moment for me because I had the least experience on the team, while most of my team have at least seven to eight years of experience.

"It felt great to score, especially with three goals in the final."

VS coach Nordin Manaff, 55, was delighted for Jangra.

"We pushed him very hard. We saw the potential and knew that he could achieve such a performance," he said. "It was very good that he was able to rise to the occasion and live up to expectations.

"The win means a lot to us. It opens the door for the boys and the school to believe that we can be the best and hopefully continue to succeed in the future."

Despite the loss, RI captain Thievyan Koban was equally proud of his team for putting up a good fight, saying: "From the start of the tournament to where we are now, I think we've improved a lot."

Thievyan also thanked schoolmates, teachers, parents and friends for their support. Armed with drums and flags, both sets of supporters were out in force, determined to drown each other out.

Karen Tan, mother of VS player Dylan Tan, was delighted to be present to witness her son's win.

Accompanied by her husband and daughter, the 42-year-old said: "This is our first time coming down to watch his matches physically.

"My husband took leave to be able to come down and we will be spending the weekend celebrating his win."